Trekkers 8th Grade Students from Team K2 Complete 10-Day Expedition

Eleven 8th grade Advanced Trekkers, along with seven adult leaders, returned to Maine on July 16 after completing their 10-day educational expedition. Team K2 first boarded the Trekkers’ bus on July 7 to begin their travels throughout the Northeast. The students had met together in a series of planning meetings throughout the school year to create their own itinerary. Using a consensus decision making process, they had collectively determined how they would meet five educational components during their journey. The educational components are community service, environmental stewardship, adventure-based education, wilderness exploration, and cultural awareness.

The team started the expedition by fulfilling their wilderness component hiking Mt. Osceola in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, which is over 3,300 feet in elevation. Upon leaving New Hampshire, the group stopped in Quechee, Vermont to visit the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. The students learned about birds of prey, saw a live raptor show, and met with staff, who explained how they rescue birds and then use them in public education programs.

The team’s next stop was Hersey Park, Pennsylvania, along with a visit to Amish country for their cultural awareness component. On their way back home, they stopped in Massachusetts where they spent a day ziplining at Berkshire East, which has seven different lines of varying lengths and speed.

Throughout their 10-day expedition, the students spent time each night journaling about the day’s experiences and how they related to their own personal lives. As one student shared, ““I never realized until this trip how good it would make me feel to leave everything behind and be completely in the moment for 10 days.”

To read more about the Team K2 expedition, visit www.trekkers.org and follow the links to the Programs page for 8th grade. To view more photos, visit Trekkers’ Facebook page: www.facebook.com/trekkersonline. To learn more about Trekkers, please call (207) 594-5095.